Paradise Island - Day 1

Hello world! I missed all my friends on this spot. Hope you missed me too! We were back from a  well deserved, relaxing, vacation last Sunday. So many exciting things have happened since then, that I did not have the time to update my favorite cyber space. There is always a charm in experiencing things for the first time in life. For me, last week was all about that "first time" both profesionally and personaly. For the first time, I stayed out till the wee hours of the morning last Friday, when I went to a gals night out. It was such an unique exeperience, I will have to make it a separate post. (watch this space) For the first time, I played the most popular card game "poker", for the first time I played volleyball, for the first time, I took big decesions by myself, at home, and remodelled our living room and basement. See, I had my reasons to neglect this space. Today, I feel on top of the world!  Thanks to my dear family who have been so supportive and also some very good friends who have made all this possible. I have also been listening to my favorite bollywood music and I came across this melodious song, which is the Song of the day,  from the movie Jhoom barabar jhoom sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mahalaxmi Iyer, lyrics by the one and only Gulzar.

Dhaage tod laao chandani se noor ke
Ghoonghat hi banalo roshini se noor ke
Sharma gai to aagosh mein lo
ho Saaaso se uljhi rahi meri saasein
Bol Na Halke Halke
hooth se halke halke
bol na halke
Love the 'Swaras' in this - Maga nisa sa madhe pa ni sa re ga ni sa ma pa dhi na sa

Big news this week in Bollywood - Esha Deol is getting married. Saw some pictures of the Sangeet. Good choice girl! The man is hot! I would be beaming too if someone called me their princess. Let's check with Bharat after a few years of marriage. From Princess to daasi haan Bharat? Finally, something good going for her. But whats up with flashing that finger ring everytime? Here is wishing her luck! Did not see Dharam paaji at the ceremony. Hmmm. Oh, oh, oh, saw the first pics of Aradhya Bachchan aka Strawberry. She is so cute. Looks a little like Ash's brother. Folks, So many things to look forward to in the next few days. Shekar's friends are visting us on Thursday. They leave on Friday evening. My friend from New Jersey is visitng us on Saturday. She will here till 4th of July. Woo hoo! Party time all the way. Will be missing from this spot for sometime. Promise to update you once, all settles sown. :)
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Alright, if you like the sun, clear blue sky, beautiful beaches with turquoise blue water, water rides, good food, realxing time, smell of sunscreen, gorgeous women and men clad in skimpy swimming wear, loaded drinks etc. then, Atlantis, Bahamas is for you! Yes, folks that was our vacation destitation. We set out early at 4:30 AM on Tuesday June 12th, 2012. We checked in on United Airlines and settled down. Soon boarding was announced and as our boarding passes were collected, I had the first surprise of this trip. Suddenly we were upgraded to first class.  Thanks to Shekar who is a Platinum member. Since the aircraft was not full, we automatically got upgraded. :)

First class seating baby!

 Royal treatment. Only "we" got food.

2.5 hrs. of flight time from NJ and we were landing in Paradise Island - Atlantis Bahamas. I was so excited, I started clicking pics. from the airplane itself. See below.

 Beautiful formation of puffy white clouds on a clear sunny day

 Closer to ground and we could see some of the houses on the island

 And we were standing in long lines (sigh!)

Took the bus to the Hotel. On the way clicked more pics.

These houses reminded me of India

Suposedly their downtown

 First glimpse of the Atlantis hotel, via bus window. It was like looking at Tajmahal for the first time.

 The connecting bridge

 Our room. I wanted to take a pic. of the hotel from close, but had to wait for another day, as there were too many check in procedures,

 View from our hotel room - Gorgeous!

First island drink - It tasted soemthing like "Guava" juice.

After eating some junk food like fries, hotdogs and loaded nachos,etc., we swam in the swimming pool for sometime. See below:

Yes, that's me under the waterfall. Ram teri ganga .... LOL!

We then had a buffet dinner. I hope I had the pic. to share. The spread was spectacular! The cost was spectacular too! $50.00 per person. The food was fit for a King. We were so full and also tired from our journey and excitement, that we decided to call it a night. This was day one at Atlantis. More to come folks. Stay tuned. Shub raatri. 

A beauty-full day

Hello World! New day, new thoughts, new bike, new path, new season, new start... it's all about reinventing oneself. Yeah folks? Beautiful day so far. I feel on top of the world! It's amazing what a little fresh air can do. I was missing this spot so much. It had been a while since I rode my bike. The outdoors are so much fun, specially in the early mornings. The song of the day: My favorite morning song is from the movie Delhi 6. Music by A. R. Rehman. Sung by Shreya Ghoshal,Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Gujri Todi.
aaaaa
Bhor bhayeee Tori baat takat piya
Bhor bhayeee Tori baat takat piya
Naina alsaaye ne bhaye
Sagari rain ka Jaage

It's good to see people who are so motivated getting their exercise for the day out of the way, all ready to enjoy the rest rest of their day. I have noticed that people are more pleasant in the morning, before the stress gets to them, later in the day. I made a promise to myself to wake up early on the weekends all through summer, just to enjoy this time. Ok, what have I been up to? Working hard and shopping. We are getting ready for a vacation, so needed appropriate stuff. Can't disclose the spot that we are going to yet.  I have learnt that some element of surprise is important to keep readers curious and interested. Right folks? Bollywood scene is revolving around IIFA these days. All beauties dolled up. Looks like full figures are calling for the six yards of fabric. The likes of Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi better buck up and think of reinventing themselves to keep up or else the heroines will all look like plain Janes. I am thinking of getting highlights in my hair for the 15th time. I have never liked it on myself so far, as the color was not what I expected at all. Yet, I want to try it again again with the hope that I will get it right sometime. I love it on others. Wish me luck folks.
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So, what makes for a beautiful day? Simple. A day filled with beauty! he he. Jokes apart. I think it depends on the meaning of beauty, apart from being a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight, beauty can also be defined as a combination of qualities that pleases the intellect or moral sense. some examples of beauty can be:

1. Creating something from nothing 2. Love 3. Tatoos 4. Science 5. Dreams etc. As you can see, beauty does lie in the eyes of the beholder. Now it is up to us to surround ourselves with what appeals to us. When we surround ourselves with beautiful things it automatically puts the spark back into our souls and makes us feel good again. Even simple things such as seeing a flower or a rainbow can work wonders for the mind. My personal feel good beauty thing is jewellery. It makes me feel special when I wear jewellery. People now have associated my personality with jewellery. Some pieces of jewellery have sentimental value to me. Whenever, I wear them, I feel like my day is going good. Another feel good thing is personal pictures. I used to be amazed at the number of personal pictures that people at work have on their desk. Now I know why. It's nice to be surrounded by the people you love.  Reserach has shown that, Dopamine is the “feel good” neurotransmitter and this is basically stimulated when we attach ourselves to beautiful things and simply let go. So, dear friends make it a beauty - full day!

My thoughts of the day

Satsriakal doston! Ok, I know enough about the Sardar culture to say this. I had the wrong notion that Sardars were mean people. As a kid, I used to be very scared of them. A recent visit to the golden temple changed that notion by 180 degrees for me. Gorgeous golden temple! I think it should be the the eighth wonder of the world. Golden temple by evening is so divine! In the morning, the aura around the Golden Temple is breathtaking! Posting the pics below.

 By Night

  Early Morning

Attended a dhamakedar baby shower yesterday.  Actually, for me it was the 10th Baby Shower that I was attending. So, I was expecting a, been there done it type of experience. But the organisers really surprised me. It was such a different event. The games were very well researched. It kept the guests engrossed till the end. The food was awesome too! A Sunday evening well spent with fun loving friends. Woke up this morning feeling very low. I am experiencing these low moments a lot these days. Maybe hormonal. Dragged myself to work. At around 10:30 AM, my friend called me to invite me to a pooja this Friday. I felt a lot better after talking to her. Came home, to find an email from my high school friend on FB.  She was talking of our Manipal days. It felt so good. Connecting to childhood memories, makes us feel young too, I guess. Now I can relate to my Dad to some extent. Finally pulled my step out and did some step exercise. My knees wouldn't cooperate. Had to stop midway. Ate good dinner followed by Chikoo icecream. What's going on friends. I have lost my will power. My mind is on food constantly. It's good to live it up a little. Right?

Folks, leaving you all tonight humming this soft, romantic song (song of the day) form the movie Bodyguard, sung by Ash King & Clinton Cerejo, lyrics by Pritham.

 Dil ka yeh
 Kya raaz hai
 Jaane kya kar gaye
 Jaise andhero mein tum
 Chandni bhar gaye

 Kar chaand taaron ko
 Mashoor itna kyun
 Kambakht inse bhi
 khoobsoorat hai tu..
 I love you
Tu ru ru….

At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet. So true. Don't brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever. ------ Leo Buscaglia 

Personality types/Namoonas

Adaab friends. Happy Fry-day! Oh! this acronym filled world. I don't get it! People do not spell anything anymore. Even a professional email, is written as text.  Did anyone notice that Facebook had technical issues for the last couple of days? It was frustrating. This is the new age folks! Zero tolerance for flaws. I am welcoming this weekend with a big smile. This weekend, is to do nothing constructive. Just eat, sleep and watch videos. Planning to watch some old Hindi movies that I would have missed. YouTube zindabad! Song of the day -
matlabi hain log yahan par matlabi zamaana
socha saaya saath dega nikla wo begaana
begaana begaana apno mein main begaana begaana

This is a forgotten song by Kishore Kumar from the movie Begaana. I was surprised to learn that Anu Malik was the music director of this song.  Good job Anuji. The sentiments are captured very well. It will definitely make you sad.
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We meet people from all walks of life on an everyday basis. I think it makes the world an interesting place to live in. I believe in variety being THE spice of life. Lately, I have indulged in observing different characteristics of people. My favorite pass time. We all know of the type A, B and C personality classifications, based on  behaviour. I think the behavior is dependent upon people's background. Al tough, most people, to some extent are born with a personalty, I think people get moulded in a certain way, depending on where they come from, how they were raised, their education or lack off etc. I think, I would have been a different person, had I have been born and brought up here in the US. Some of the personalities can be classified based on some individual characteristics (I like to call them namoonas hehe). Here are a few that I have observed.

Overbearing: Oozing with confidence, these namoonas always put their thoughts in the forefront and soon will make other people around them, think behave and act just like them. It's their way or highway.

Talkative: These namoonas do not like silence at all. They have to fill every pause, intentional or non intentional.

Calm and quiet: Nothing under the sun disturbs these namoonas. They kind of live in their own little world. One has to literally shake a word or 2 out of them. These people, have no enthusiasm or ambition in life. They accept life, the way as it is.

Nervous: Filled with pessimism, not sure why these namoonas are so jittery all the time. They seem to be scared of failure or something.

Sensitive: Oh, these are my all time favorite namoonas (I think I am one of them he he). They can cry at the drop of a hat. These people feel like people are judging them constantly. Everything appears to be negative to them.

Divas: These insecure fashionistas think of themselves as apsaras. These namoonas eat, drink and sleep fashion and shopping.

Drama King/Queen: Don't we love these namoonas? These people can turn any given boring situation into the most exciting one, complete with music, action, comedy, tragedy, etc. all at once. They would be ideal in a Bollywood masala movie.

Shy: These namoonas, need some personality development classes. Thank god for computers, these people can hide behind that and express themselves.

Egoists: These are my least favorite type of namoonas. They are constantly, trying to put the other person down. Unfortunately, there are too many of these people around us. Nothing is achieved by possessing a false ego. It's their loss. I think success and ego go hand in hand. Unfortunate but true.

Anger:  These namoonas are for ever mad at some thing or someone. I get scared to even approach someone like that. People like that should take advantage of anger management classes.

Comedians: My most favorite namoonas. Generally these people hide their emotions behind laughter. They come across as happy and in the process make other people around them happy by taking all ups and downs in life lightly.

Planners: These namoonas will never get ahead in life. They will have the BEST plans all figured out, but they fail to execute.

Problem Child: And then we have the namoonas who view every situation as a problem with no solution. Life to them is a HUGE challenge. God save them!

Dreamers: Now, they say, that to be successful one has to dream BIG. However, some of these nammonas are foolish dreamers who live in the dream land.

Ultimately, all these namoonas make the world interesting and its impossible for me to live without them. I  LOVE people for what they are. Cheers to life! Shub ratri folks!